Does Crash Prevention Technology Make Us Safer?

Yes and No Say Car Accident Attorneys

Over the last few years, more and more automobile manufacturers have fitted their vehicles with various technologies in a bid to make them safer. One such technology is obviously the crash detection and prevention technology that includes features such as automatic braking, forward collision warning/ avoidance, blindspot detection, and lane departure warning. You can find some or all of these features in a lot of newer vehicle models. These technologies play a role in protecting against collisions, but do they really make us safer?

First, let us understand the technology

Automobile manufacturers have different types of crash prevention technologies. Though the technologies or the makers of those technologies might be different they all use the same principle. They use sensors and cameras to detect when another vehicle is approaching and how quickly it is approaching. If the speed of approach passes a certain threshold, the technology will give the driver visual or audio cues, automatically brake, or implement some other safety measure.

What do experts say?

Data from various studies and surveys show that crash prevention technologies do work. For instance, a recent study found that the Mercedes and Acura cars that had automatic braking and forward collision warning had over 14% fewer insurance claims compared to same models of cars without those two crash prevention features. Surveys conducted among motorists also found that drivers felt safer with crash prevention technologies and that the majority of them would like their next vehicles to have the same type of crash prevention features. In another survey done by ORC international, more than 77% of the participants revealed that they would be willing to pay extra money for forward collision prevention systems on their cars. These studies and surveys show that crash prevention technologies do work and that many people have already used them and are confident about their functionality. You can even ask the car accident attorneys in our firm and they will tell you how many of their clients were saved from dangerous accidents by crash prevention technologies.

So it’s obvious that they do work but how?

As mentioned earlier, crash prevention technologies work using sensors and taking over some controls of your vehicle if you don’t react to warnings or if you do not have time to react. These systems are slightly better than the human driver as they don’t get tired or exhausted. For instance, if you wake up early and embark on a long-distance journey to a holiday destination or for a family visit, you will most probably start feeling drowsy or tired in about four hours. As time passes, you will start feeling even more exhausted and sleepy and start drifting from your lane into another. If you are lucky and your car has crash prevention technologies with lane departure systems, then you will be warned because the car’s cameras will notice you are moving across lane markings. If, on the other hand, your car doesn’t have the technology, you could end up in a situation that would require you to hire car accident attorneys to help you with your injury claim.

Other features of crash prevention technologies such as forward collision systems use radar, laser, beams, and cameras to scan the road ahead of you to check for any obstacles or objects. If you are approaching the object too fast or you do not appear to be taking any action to rectify the situation, your brakes will be automatically applied to prevent the crash.

As you can see, crash prevention technologies have made many motorists on our roads safer. However, cases involving failures of these technologies have also been reported. If you experienced any such failures and were injured as a result, contact Wilshire Law Firm and we will connect you to one of our experienced car accident attorneys to help you out.

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